CHARACTERIZATION AND IVESTIGATION ON BENTONITE CLAY FROM “MURZUQ” DEPOSIT

Representative sample of bentonite clay of “Murzuq” deposit was characterized by high light the mechanism of formation of surface properties for bentonite clay by x-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR), atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), x-ray fluorescence (XRF), flame emission photometer, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The exchange capacity at different pH were determined and found to be 20.5 mmol/kg and 91.5 mmol/kg at pH = 2 and pH = 8 respectively. Specific gravity found to be 2.597. Trace elements were also determined and found to be about 0.21%. Based on the investigation the structure formula was proposed as following:

[K0.094Na1.45Ca0.118(Al2.92Fe0.175Ti0.033Mg0.646)VI(Al0.52Si7.48)IVO20(OH)4]